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Healthy, Schmidt arrives in Clearwater eager for 'Sundays with Schmidt'

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Dressed in a sharp black suit and a head full of white hair, Mike Schmidt didn't look any different than he has in previous years in spring training, where he has been a staple as a guest instructor. In a year's time, however, Schmidt has been through a lot.

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Healthy, Schmidt arrives in Clearwater eager for 'Sundays with Schmidt'

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Dressed in a sharp black suit and a head full of white hair, Mike Schmidt didn't look any different than he has in previous years in spring training, where he has been a staple as a guest instructor. In a year's time, however, Schmidt has been through a lot.

After a routine checkup in August with his dermatologist, doctors diagnosed Schmidt with Stage 3 melanoma, or advanced skin cancer. Schmidt underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments in January and February, ending around Valentine's Day. The 64-year-old Schmidt says he is fortunate.

"I was very lucky," Schmidt said. "In August I had a mole diagnosed in my back as melanoma. And it turned out to be, after the first operation, I had two operations, after the first one it was determined to be Stage 3 rather than Stage 1. It had gotten into my lymph system, as we found out after operation No. 2. I had to have all the lymph nodes removed under my arm. Recovery from that for about a month. More scans. And lucky enough, the scans were clear."

He arrived in Clearwater on Sunday to do a test run of "Sundays with Schmidt," a new promotion from Comcast SportsNet that will put Schmidt in the broadcast booth for 13 home games in 2014. Schmidt returns to broadcasting 14 years after serving as color analyst for PRISM back in 1990, one year after retiring.

"I've got to be honest with you. I think my content was good. But back then my lack of emotion or upbeat tempo with my voice, I just couldn't get excited about a ground-ball single up the middle," Schmidt said. "That won't happen this year. That won't happen now."

He will help call Sunday's game against the Pirates. It will be broadcast on CSN. Check out the Phillies' lineup below: